Duranalysis: The Reflex

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Comments

Ingrid Richter said…
Another fine review, Morgan. Loved Nick's shoulder-shimmy during this video.

Wasn't the Jumbotron an evil part of Durand Durand's plan to capture loyal, fun-loving Duran Duran fans in Arena?

Heh. Evil technology!
Morgan Richter said…
Nick is the undisputed master of the cold, regal shoulder-shimmy. Yeah, all sorts of chaos breaks out with Durand Durand and the screen in Arena. Ah, Arena. Such goofy, incomprehensible good fun.
Cheryl K said…
ah, the shoulder shimmy *and* the "look" --I'm having deja vu about that sweater...like it's not the first time I've seen him in scratchy tweed.

It was with pleasure that I heard Nick do the barf-sounding sound effects in the middle of the song at their recent CT concert--by speaking into the mike, not pushing a key. But then he said something afterwards to Simon that I haven't been able to decipher. It's on YouTube somewhere...

I always wondered what the Reflex was about, but the whole idea of it being about Nick is a new one that I'll have to ponder.

The bigger question is, how did the concertgoers in the audience get wet if the water was CGI? (I mean, what happened at the real concert and who did it?) I always wondered that, too.
Morgan Richter said…
Here's what Andy had to say in his memoir about the whole possible Nick/Reflex link: Years later, when Simon wrote the lyrics to "The Reflex," there was a lot of speculation that the song was about Nick. According to the song, "The Reflex is in charge of finding treasure in the dark." That's what Nick would do: he was a genius at finding little bits of treasure in a song. (Nick's also an only child like in "The Reflex," although Simon denies the lyrics are about him.) Kind of an interesting idea, though I don't know if there's anything to it.

The bigger question is, how did the concertgoers in the audience get wet if the water was CGI?

From what I gather (i.e. from my old friend Wikipedia), while much of the video was shot live during a concert in Toronto, they filmed some of it earlier in the day, without the audience. I can't be sure, but I'd guess they hired extras to play audience members and get drenched in some non-CGI-related manner, then filmed that bit before the actual concert.
Cheryl K said…
...and extra filming would explain how the guys look sweat-free and perfect for the camera.
Morgan Richter said…
...and extra filming would explain how the guys look sweat-free and perfect for the camera.

Indeed it would. There's just no way the guys could all look that dewy-fresh without someone coming in to sponge them down and retouch their makeup in the middle of the performance. Even for Duran Duran, it's just not possible.
MusicRocks said…
I know I'm late to this party, but I love all your posts on DD. After reading this post and learning that they have extra filming, I went back and look at the video and found that sometimes the Simon on the big video screen does not match what the one of stage is doing. It's fun spotting this!
Morgan Richter said…
Thanks, MusicRocks! You're absolutely right -- I just went back and checked (thanks for giving me an excuse to watch the video again), and sure enough, Simon on the screen doesn't always match Simon on the stage (it's particularly noticeable around 2:27, when John and Andy are also in the shot, doing completely different stuff than they're doing on stage at that moment). Funny...
MusicRocks said…
I'm overly proud upon discovering this! I'd love to read you analysis some more DD videos!
Morgan Richter said…
I'll try to get to more DD analysis this year. They're fun to write. Maybe I'll start in on the Notorious-era videos next.